The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-16
LOVELY WOMAN IN PERSIA.
She Must Be Neither Fat Like the Elephant
Nor Lean Like the Camel.

| Nor Lean Like the Camel.
| st. James Gazette.
| on the theory that they imprisoned in a
| gilded gage closely guarded by very ugly
| eunuchs. and induced to spend their time in at
| tempting to catch the smiles of jealous lord.
| they sprawl in graceful attitudes si,ken
| cushions Their only other occupation is under
stood to be devouring immense Quantities of
| sweemeats in order to become corpulent; their
| only amusement the pleasure of poisoning rival
| wives and hearing in terminable stories of the
Arabian Nights pattern.
1t Is true that with the Turk beauty must be
fat. 1t Is not so. however, with the Persian;
| he has the appreciation of connoisseur for the
| juste mliieu. A stout woman in Persia Is
| spoken of as an elephant, while the leaner ones
| are generally called camels Though they deal
largely in hyperbole, the Persians do not mince
matters IN speaking of the fair sex
| " The veil. which is ha6tually worn out of
doors even by the very poor in all great towns
lie Persia, though its use is unknown among the
tribes who form at least third of the whole
population, is chung to by the a
privilege. 1t is. in fact, domino The Per
sian out of doors is unrecocnizab BILE even
by her husband. She sees without being seen,
and in the veil it is impossible to detect the
of the wearer. As the Persian lady is nearly al
ways married at fourteen she begins to fade at
twenty-seven at latest, at thirty she appears
fifty, and there only two dentists in the
whole of Persia
Polygamy is the luxury of the rich; with the
upper and middle classes bgamy is the rule.
mans first alliance is marriage de conven-
ance, the second either marriage for love
the qualification of vanity. When your Persian
brings home a second wife there is usually
scene which lasts for a week two; there is
a struggle for supremacy, bu. 1t is over.
Both wives do their best TO please the master of
the house, but they do not attempt poison
each other unless In very exceptional circum-
stances. But Persian ladies still believe in the
efficacy of love philters, and many abomina-
ton is secretly administered to unfortunate hus-
bands. Happily the love philter, though usually
composed Of horrible Ingredients is quite harm
less
The bath takes up a good deal of the time of
all Persian women. Even the poorest will at
tend the Hannah at least week. For
the lady the bath Is of the serious affairs of
life. and takes up daily from two four hours
of her time. 1t is something more than our idea
of q bath. The victim is scraped aud rubbed
and parboiled The soles of the feet are
panied until they soft and tender as
those of little child The hair is thoroughly
washed by means of not water and the sapona.
clay for which Shiraz is celebrated Then
the attendant mix IN a braZen bowl the aro
matte henna with the requisite amount of lemon
juice, till brown paste of the consistency of
Cruel is produced, and several haudfuls of the
repusive-looking compound smeared over
the lady's head. Then the hair, collected into q
mass, Is bound up in cabbage leaves Small
quantities of the dye are smeared the eye
brows: the soles of the feet. the toes the palms
of the hands. the finger tips also covered
with IT. And now the lady has to sit perfectly
still for from one to three hours, till. like =
meerschaum pipe. she coors; and il is exactly
the color obtained On the best specimens OF the